Gareth Southgate believes England can come away from Croatia happy with their performance, but also disappointed not to have won.
The Three Lions were held to a 0-0 draw by their hosts in front of an empty stadium in Rijeka, but after hitting the woodwork twice and spurning a number of second-half chances, the manager felt his team should have been celebrating their first win in the Nations League.
“I thought the application of the players, given they’re used to performing in front of a crowd which raises the level of the game, was really good,” he said.
“We defended really well, we pressed well and I thought our build-up play was fairly good.
“It was even in the first half, we had a great chance from the corner but there was one little bit of sloppy play when they had a chance from a cut-back.
“But in the second half, we were by far the better team.
“If we’d been a little bit more ruthless with our chances, we should’ve won the game.”
Southgate also opted to change the team’s structure, reverting to a back-four and three in midfield and attack, which he believes suits the squad he has at his disposal for these games.
“I don’t think you should ever be rigid and stick with something forever,” he admitted.
“I’ve wanted to look at a [back] four after the last few games where we’ve suffered a bit without the ball.
“And when I look at some of the young players coming through, there’s wide players and number eights who might suit that system.
“So we’ve got to have an open mind to it and I thought the players executed it really well tonight.”
In particular, Southgate praised the performance of defender Ben Chilwell who made his full debut at left-back after joining the squad from the U21s at the start of the week.
“I thought Ben was excellent,” he added. “His defending was composed and he had some good players up against him.
“He didn’t dive in and his use of the ball was excellent. He showed good energy going forward and it wasn’t easy in the final third to produce a quality delivery or keep your feet, but I think he should be very proud of his performance.”
Midfielder Eric Dier also paid spoke about the experience of playing in front of an empty stadium, and paid tribute to the hardy England fans who did find a way to catch a glimpse of the action.
“It was strange and it was a first experience of it for all of us so it was a strange atmosphere,” said the Spurs man.
“But there was a couple of England fans up on the hill and we could hear them, but once the game started it went to the back of our minds really.”
Dier was one of players who came closest to scoring too, when his first-half header bounced off the post to safety.
“I thought I’d scored,” he admitted. “When I looked back at it, I thought it was going in but it just skidded off the grass and onto the post, so it’s unlucky as that would’ve been great.
“I thought the team did well with the new formation tonight and it’s important for us to have that flexibility to play in different formations.”
The Three Lions squad will now head to Spain ahead of Monday’s match in Seville, where they will look to build on this performance and what is their first point in the Nations League.
